Reviews

The avant-garde Bee Gee goes boldly into the realms of R&B

Accomplished seventh album from Finnish multi-instrumentalist

Imagine if the Cheeky Girls were as good as retro-kitsch archivists will probably one day pretend they are. 200 km/h In The Wrong Lane is that sort of record. The two lead singles off this fantastic piece of pop product—"Not Gonna Get Us" and "All The Things She Said"—are produced by Trevor Horn. Suffice to say they represent the latter's finest work since Grace Jones'"Slave To The Rhythm" in 1985. Despairing, frantic and caressing are the twin vocals of latest tabloid shock sensations Lena Katina and Julia Volkova; one soft, the other strident.

North London fops' third album, remastered for 20th anniversary

Six previously unreleased demos from era of Volume Two (1969) and Third (1970)

Son of an Arkansas share-cropper made good

Infantile, boorish, dangerous, hilarious, unmissable

Why 511? Because, on June 2, 2002, New Order performed in front of 10,000 rain-lashed revellers at Finsbury Park, and their 16-song set list comprised five Joy Division tracks and 11 by the band they became following the suicide of Ian Curtis.

Leaving aside the Paul Williams soundtrack and Jodie Foster's performance (which aren't bad), Alan Parker's 1930s kiddie gangster musical, which dates back to 1976, combines a dozen bad things, including clunky dialogue, child actors, obvious sets and dull direction. Kids would probably find it patronising, and to the rest of us it falls somewhere between cloyingly cute and downright dodgy. DVD EXTRAS: Trailers, storyboards, trivia, character notes, photo gallery.

The ultimate journeyman, Kevin Reynolds is back with his explosively soulless adaptation of Dumas' classic. Formerly solid character stars Guy Pearce and Jim Caviezel don Hobbit haircuts and bored expressions as the socially mismatched childhood friends torn apart by jealousy and betrayal. It's clunky and mechanical, and lacking in even the faintest directorial fingerprint, yet it bounces you safely to the finish. DVD EXTRAS: Making Of..., audio commentary, deleted scenes, sword-fight choreography documentary and sound design featurette.